Air passenger traffic up in Europe in Q1

By Arife Yildiz Unal

ANKARA (AA) - Air passenger traffic in Europe rose 7.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018, according to the report by Airports Council International (ACI) Europe.

"Istanbul-Ataturk led the league with the passenger growth of 21.5 percent. This propelled the Turkish hub from the 5th to the 3rd position of the busiest European airports, compared to full year 2017," the report said.

It said that passenger traffic in the top five European airports grew 9.6 percent during January-March.

Commenting on the report, Turkish Minister of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications Ahmet Arslan told Anadolu Agency that Istanbul Ataturk, Sabiha Gokcen and Antalya airports have experienced the highest increase in number of passengers.

"In the first quarter of the year, the number of passengers increased by 21.5 percent in Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, 18.5 percent in Sabiha Gokcen Airport and 16.5 percent in Antalya Airport compared to the same period of the previous year," Arslan said.

According to the report, Ataturk, Sabiha Gokcen, Antalya, Lisbon and Moscow SVO airports welcomed more than 25 million passengers per year.

Ankara’s Esenboga Airport saw rise in the number of passengers the most, with 41.3 percent increase, according to the list of airports welcoming between 10- 25 million passengers per year.

Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI EUROPE, said the momentum for continued passenger traffic growth is holding on.

"For now, the most significant downside risks for air traffic are coming from rising oil prices, trade disputes and Brexit,” Jankovec added.

"During the month of March, average passenger growth was 8.9 percent benefitting from the Easter break starting at the end of the month rather than in April," the report said.

ACI Europe also revealed that freight traffic reported an increase of 1.1 percent in the month -- the slowest gain in 2 years.

The report by the ACI Europe includes 241 airports in total, representing more than 88 percent of European air passenger traffic.

ACI Europe represents over 500 airports in 45 European countries.

*Jeyhun Aliyev contributed to this story from Ankara